This Month in Montana History: August

August 9th-10th 1877, 145 years ago: The Battle of the Big Hole is fought between the US Army's 7th Infantry Regiment and the Nez Perce tribe. The battle was part of the five-month Nez Perce War, caused when the US broke the Treaty of Walla Walla and forced Nez Perce to relocate to a reservation in Idaho territory. The results of the battle are inconclusive, as both sides suffered heavy casualties.

August 6th, 1890, 132 years ago: Railroad station at Elkhorn opens. The station would run until 1939, after which the Northern Pacific cut its service and removed its tracks.

August 24th, 1890, 132 years ago: Frank Blair is born in South Dakota. Blair would become District Judge of the Fifth Judicial District in 1970, then 80 years old, for 12 years before his death in 1986. He also served as county attorney, where he drafted the amendment to the state constitution forbidding the forced consolidation of counties, stopping the dismemberment of Jefferson, Beaverhead, and Madison counties.

Frank Showers, another fifth district judge who served from 1893-1896, was also born in August 1855. However, no date of birth was ever listed on census records. We do know that at this time, he was starting his legal partnership with George D. Green in Boulder, which they would continue until Showers' election.

August 10th 1892, 130 years ago: The Whitehall Post Office is established.

August 13th 1895, 127 years ago: The Katy mine in Basin catches fire, costing about 3.5 million dollars (adjusted for inflation) in damages. The mine would be repurchased and combined with the Hope mine in 1902 before shutting down in 1939.

August 1st 1903, 119 years ago: Martha Jane Cannary, better known as Calamity Jane, passes away in South Dakota. Calamity Jane was an early American pioneer whose exploits across the country have become legendary. In her final years of life, she started an inn in Miles City, with some versions of her story claiming she started another in Boulder.

August 12th 1903, 119 years ago: An excavation conducted by the American Natural History Museum discovers the skull of a Triceratops, then reported to be the largest and most complete specimen discovered, near Miles City. At the time, it was thought to be between 3-10 million years old; we now know it to be 65 million years old. The dinosaur is still on display at the American Natural History Museum in New York.

August 25th 1905, 117 years ago: A fire in Whitehall burns down a livery stable just a week after it had been purchased by the Riggs family. There was no loss of human life and the surrounding buildings were protected by a bucket brigade and favorable winds, but the stable and several horses were lost.

August 20th 1988, 34 years ago: More than 150,000 acres are burned in Yellowstone during the worst day of the Yellowstone Fires of 1988.

--Information from The Age, The Age Sentinel, Boulder Monitor, and Montana Sunlight, as well as additional historic sources

Questions? Comments? More information to share? Visit The Jefferson County Museum 5 N. Main Street, Clancy, MT, 59634 Tuesdays and Fridays, 12 PM-4PM and Saturdays 10:30-4, or call to schedule an appointment 406-224-5106 or conduct your own research at MontanaNewspapers.org.